Thursday

Mar 14, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 14, 2013 at 12:38 PM

While most people were sleeping early Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, Carolina Community Corrections and sheriff’s deputies in Jones, Carteret and Craven counties were making sure convicted sex offenders were complying with the law.

Updated at 4:28 p.m.

While most people were sleeping early Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, Carolina Community Corrections and sheriff’s deputies in Jones, Carteret and Craven counties were making sure convicted sex offenders were complying with the law.

U.S. Marshal Scott Parker of the Eastern District of North Carolina gave a news briefing at the Craven County Judicial Center Thursday morning on “Operation Infinite Justice.”

The law enforcement operation is ongoing and designed to check on the compliance of 229 registered sex offenders in Craven, Jones and Carteret counties.

There were eight arrests during the two days on charges including failure to report a change of address, possession of firearms by a felon and drug possession.

Parker said more arrests are expected.

Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck said trying to verify a sex offender’s residency is not always an easy thing to do and that law enforcement depends on the public to keep them notified if they have any information.

“We do consider them our eyes and ears,” he said. “…In our county, we have 91 registered sex offenders. Several of them are currently sitting in prison because somebody in the community called us and they passed along some information and we were able to follow up and charge those individuals.”

Jones County Sheriff Danny Heath said his county has a “strict zero tolerance policy for any violations” when it came to sex offenders.

“For the past two days, we proved just that,” Heath said. “…The people of Jones County and surrounding counties should know we are going to stay on top of this, their safety is what’s paramount.”

District Attorney Scott Thomas commended everyone involved in the operation.

“Sex offender laws are designed to protect citizens and law enforcement officers to know the location of sex offenders in our counties,” Thomas said. “The goals are public safety and protection of the citizens. When offenders fail to register and comply with these sex offender laws, citizens are put at risk.”

“First, that law enforcement officers and prosecutors are closely monitoring them and their actions,” he said. “Second, those violators will not be ignored; they will be prosecuted if they are in violation.”

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A Maysville man and two men from Trenton were among those arrested by a U.S. Marshals task force checking registered sex offenders for compliance with guidelines.

Jerry Banks, 27, of Maysville, was arrested on outstanding warrants charging him with three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count each of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and maintaining a dwelling for controlled substance.

Curtis West, 35, of Trenton, was arrested on an outstanding warrant charging him with failing to report a change of address-sex offender.

Melvin Ward, 27, of Trenton, was arrested on an outstanding warrant charging him with failing to report a change of address-sex offender.

The U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, in conjunction with the North Carolina Community Corrections and the Carteret, Craven and Jones County Sheriff’s Offices, conducted Operation Infinite Justice in three Eastern North Carolina counties.

Beginning early Tuesday morning, law enforcement officers in the affected counties set out to verify that all registered sex offenders in Carteret, Craven and Jones counties were in compliance with North Carolina guidelines.

By the end of the operation Wednesday, authorities had visited the homes of 229 registered sex offenders in the selected counties.

In addition to verifying the compliance of the registered sex offenders, officers arrested eight individuals, including Banks, West and Ward, on a variety of charges and seized three firearms with ammunition. Additional arrests are possible as a result of on-going investigations generated during this operation.

“Operation Infinite Justice has sent a loud and clear message to the sex offenders throughout the counties of Carteret, Craven, and Jones” said Scott J. Parker, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina, via a news release. “The message that was sent out by the United States Marshals Service and the other agencies involved is that working collaboratively, we will utilize all resources available to ensure that the community and children of Eastern North Carolina are safe from sex offenders. This initiative demonstrated the dedication of the men and women of the U.S. Marshals and our full-time law enforcement partners on the Eastern District of North Carolina Violent Fugitive Task Force which includes the North Carolina Community Corrections. I want to thank the law enforcement officers from the North Carolina Community Corrections; Carteret, Craven, and Jones County Sheriff’s Offices; and the District Attorney’s Office in judicial districts 3B and 4 for their relentless pursuit of justice here in North Carolina.”

Jones County Sheriff Danny Heath said there is a 'zero tolerance policy' for sex offender violations.

, “When it comes to registered sex offenders in Jones County, there is a strict ‘zero tolerance policy’ for any violations. With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals, we proved just that," he said via the release.

This operation is the first of its kind to be conducted in these counties, and follows the successful conclusion of other such operations sponsored by the U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The Marshals have developed a system of partnering with state and local agencies responsible for managing and maintaining sex offender registries, and for dealing with any such offenders who fail to obey legal obligations and restrictions applicable to them by order of the courts. Since July 2006, the Marshals have conducted 1,019 sex offender-specific operations, involving 20,804 state and local law enforcement personnel from 5,182 state and local agencies. U.S. Marshals and their law enforcement partners have conducted 159,876 compliance checks and arrested 63,755 fugitive sex offenders.

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